e-Types and Københavns Madhus

The design agency e-Types was asked to develop a concept to improve food culture,
health and therefore the learning environment in Copenhagen's primary and lower secondary
schools.

Many pupils at primary and lower secondary school eat unhealthy lunches, if any,
which makes them restless in class and lead to a poor learning environment and a poor
food culture in the long term. Copenhagen Municipality therefore wanted to create
a new school lunch concept that could promote a healthy and positive eating culture
at the schools.

The design company e-Types was entrusted with the task. One
of the company's basic philosophies is that it is easy to make something look good;
the challenge is to develop a strong visual identity that can carry the idea through.
The challenge for e-Types and Københavns Madhus, responsible for providing healthy
and tasty meals to all citizens of Copenhagen who receive food from the municipality,
was to create a universe around the school lunch scheme that could make children,
young people and their parents interested in healthy and challenging food.

More
children eat healthier food

The result was the EAT concept, which has been
given its own brand and design. Campaigns, school stalls, lounges, packaging, clothing,
teaching material and merchandise constitute the universe around EAT and invite the
pupils to create their own expressions.

One of the basic ideas behind EAT is
that attractive staging is necessary if teachers are to identify opportunities for
learning and pupils are to have a chance of identifying with the concept. It is also
important to provide an opportunity for pupils to spend time together while eating.
Therefore, style, atmosphere and co-ownership are essential ingredients in the eating
area.

The campaign has reduced the number of conflicts and improved the learning
environment. The school kitchen has become a new focus for learning, and EAT has put
food and food culture on the agenda at the individual schools. EAT has also created
a subsidy scheme providing financial assistance for the school lunches to the poorest
families. The previous school lunch scheme was used by approximately 6% of the pupils,
whereas EAT counted 20% of the pupils at the 13 campaign schools as users 18 months
after the launch of the campaign.